Not what I had in mind
by Lazzy26-V
Summary: ¡On hiatus! Nicky is sent to live in Japan for the student exchange program at his school, too bad no one told him about who he would be staying with, a dude with anger issues, a mute, an old man who speaks in riddles and a girl who is cursed. He might not survive the year, but at lest he has a chance with this weird family. High school AU
1. Chapter 1

In case you didn't know this is a Snakerat fanfic, it's yoai, Snake eyes and Tunnel rat, getting romantic. If you don't like, then please don't read, all flames will be used to burn down houses of my enemies. Critics are welcome though, but no flamers, hell I will even take trolls~

This is a high school au, where Nicky, I'm just going to call him that in this fanfic evey one else will call him Tunnel rat, becomes a transfer student to Japan to live with the Arashikage family, who is filthy rich. The family becomes close to him, Snake eyes and Nicky eventually get into a relationship. Storm shadow isn't evil, just a jerk of a big brother, this will make Nicky a little home sick. Kimi, who will get her nick name latter, becomes like a little sister to Nicky, and Hard master becomes a second father. Together they will help Nicky survive his year in Japan, while keeping in contact with his friends and family.

* * *

Nicky "Tunnel rat" Lee hated air ports, nothing could compare to that hatred. Well maybe Marvin "Roadblock" Hinton's music, but that was another story. Shifting a little bit in his uncomfortable seat, he had been sitting in said seat for the past 2 hours. After a long delay of flights from New York to Miami to Los Angeles, he had finally made it to Japan, and his host family was no where in sight. Not that it wasn't bad enough that people were shooting him weird looks, but he didn't have any money and he was hungry. Also he hadn't slept in the past 24 hours. It's official I hate, hate, hate air ports, Nicky thought with all the vile he could muster. Which at this point in time, was a lot.

Shifting again, Nicky grumbled, he knew this had been a bad decision form the get go. Thinking back on it now, he really should have just said no, but his friends had pressured him into it, again. Well at lest now he had a few more people to blame, his friends. His dumb, but lovable friends.

The "Japanese culture" class had been heavily pushed by Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara. She was probably the only girl that voluntarily talked to him, but she also was the bossiest girl he had ever met. With Scarlett backing it there was no surprise when Conrad "Duke" Hauser also jumped onto the band wagon. Duke had a "thing" for Scarlett, Nicky had a good amount of money saying Duke would confess to her after she got her self a boyfriend, then proceed to beat the crap out of said boyfriend. It didn't take long for Duke to convenes the rest of us to join in on it. Alvin "Breaker" Kibby joined in for the same reason as Duke, only Breaker has puppy love for Scarlett. Wallace "Ripcord" Weems jumped on the chance, he was such a dare devil, too bad he failed the class. Roadblock had been roped in with the power of friendship, and then used said tactic to get Nicky and Harlan "Snow job" Moore into the class.

And to think I could have had an extra study hall, he thought with a small sigh. Things had gone really well until some unwanted company decided to take the class as well. Adam "Cobra" DeCobray, James "Destro" MeCullen, Anastasia "Baroness" Cisarovna, Brian "Mind bender" Bender, Sebastian "Major" Bludd, and Zartan Dreadnoks. All of which had been given nicknames by Ripcord, who gave nick names to every one. The groups fought all the time over everything, and Nicky meant everything. It was a competition to see who could get the best grades or get the best place in sports, well their parents couldn't really complain.

So there was no surprise that it was a big show down to see who would go to Japan as part of the extension of the student exchange program, it was between Zartan and Nicky, you had to get an A or an A+ in the class. Scarlett and Baroness couldn't go because of sport team activities. So it was up to Nicky to win this round, after a big fight with his parents and older brother. His family was upset about him going to a strange country, man he hated being the "baby" of the family. His parents were more upset about him learning Japanese and doing better at it then Chinese, you know with the hole Japanese-Chinese-rivalry thing. His brother was just being an ass, but after a lot of arm twisting he got their permission, luckily before the creepy ventriloquist.

Groaning Nicky laid his head back, he really should learn to let things go, now he was stuck in Japan for a year. Fiddling with his now dead MP3 Nicky began to look around, man he was short he noticed, even in Japan he was considered short. Maybe that was why people kept giving him weird looks, and it probably didn't help that he dressed like a military thug, and smelled like he just rolled around in dirt. Leaning back he decided to just listening to the chatter around him to help pass the time. At lest he knew a good amount of Japanese, he could be considered fluent, and knew people were really talking about him.

Slumping foreword again he let out another grunt of annoyance, it had been 30 more minutes and no one had came yet. Maybe they got tired of waiting? He wouldn't put it past them, his first flight was delayed by 2 hours because of "maintenance". Or did his host family forget about him and go home? Or maybe this had all been some sick joke, he wouldn't have doubted it with his bad luck.

"Nicky!" Three voices called out threw the loud air port. Maybe they didn't forget him, Nicky perked up at the sound of his name. He could tell that one was really old and sounded like his host "father", and the other was a really young girl, the second one just sounded like a typical young adult.

"Nicky Lee!" it was the same three voices, his host family really did come to get him! Better late then never Roadblock would say with his usual optimism. Quickly shooting out of his seat in hopes of finding them, but he couldn't see over the large crowd of people. Hopping up and down Nicky began to wave his arms.

"Here, here!" Nicky quickly shouted out in Japanese, "I'm right here!"

It didn't take long for his host family to find him, he was the only person jumping and screaming in the whole air port. When he saw them Nicky didn't know how to feel when the group of four came racing up to him. He was conflicted between punching them square in the jaw and hugging the day lights out of them. He decided to just go with scowling at them, at lest they were here.

Taking a small second to look them over he began to take in their features. The oldest, his host "father", looked to be around 50 or so, crankily with age, and the warmth of hard learned wisdom. The oldest son, from what Nicky could tell, was tall with black jaw length hair. He also had the walk of a man with pure arrogance. The second oldest was just as tall with very short blond hair, he radiated a cold and calculating vibe. Then came the youngest, a typical happy short teenage girl with shoulder length black hair, who almost skipped over to him. They looked like his host family...

Quickly the boy with blond hair took Nicky's bags as the group began to drag Nicky to the exit. Slightly panicking on the inside Nicky didn't fight them, only keeping his mouth shut and hopping this really was his host family. His fears were soon put to rest, as the youngest of the family, Kimi, began to talk at a rapid pace and the others quickly introduced themselves. The oldest son, Tomisaburo, didn't really say much he just added his unwanted opinion into the conversation, the dude was just rude. Their father ,Hadoasuta, didn't say much, he just held on to Nicky's hand with a strange gentleness and warmth. The blond one didn't say anything, he just walked slightly ahead of the group at a very brisk pace.

As they approached what looked to be an expensive van, did Nicky's fears truly end. The van was a metalic black, with the driver waited on the outside waiting for them. Instead of handing the driver the suit cases the blond, who had said nothing the whole time, just threw Nicky's suit case into the back. After a silent argument the group piling in, and the driver was given the unspoken command to take them home. Then Kimi continue to talk Nicky's ear off, he really didn't have enough energy to handle a exited 13 year old.

"Is New York as big as they say it is? Why do you ware that bandana, it looks old and smells bad. Do you have any phone charms, they are supper big here." She just kept going, and going, Nicky let out a silent groan of pain.

"Hime, let the our guest relax," Hadoasuta's kind voice cut of Kimi's next words with ease, "I am sorry Lee-san, my daughter is quite excited to have you here."

Nicky didn't know why, but the older man's voice just calmed his nerves. After a short pause to think about what he was going to say Nicky quickly answered, "Na, It is fine, I am just a little tired. And please don't call me "Lee-san", my name is Nicky, but my friends call me tunnel rat."

"Very well Nicky-san," It didn't really seem to bother the older man at all, but it bugged Nicky a bit. Only his family and teachers still called him Nicky.

Thank the lord he had taken all four years of the class or else he would be screwed. He felt pretty confident that he wasn't messing up, well at lest no one was making fun of him if he was. Japanese was hard compared to English, every thing was said backwards. Fucking grammar, he quickly thought. He still felt a bit nervous, and cranky.

"Your Japanese isn't bad, for an American." Tomisaburo rudely cut in, only to be shushed by his father. Nicky was about to send back a snappy remark when the two then proceeded to have a very hushed argument. It was like watching a married couple on the buses, every one knew that they were fighting, but didn't want to say anything.

Nicky just shifted around nervously, the two were worse then his parents on a long car ride. He was startled by Kimi's sudden laugh, "They always do that, don't mind them. They think we won't know that they are fighting if they talk like that."

"My friends, Duke and Scarlett, are the same way," He quickly shot back in English, only to stammer it back out in Japanese the second time. Man, he was nervous, must be the creeper van. If he didn't miss his friends before, he was really starting to feel it now.

Kimi after letting out a small laugh, it mustn't have bothered her too much. After a short amount of time she almost jumped out of her seat in excitement, as if she just realized something during a game show. Turning back to face Nicky with bright joy filling her eyes, she started to gesture over to the silent blond that sat next to Nicky, "This is Hebinome, he can't talk, just so you know he's not ignoring you."

A pone the mention of his name the older boy gave a small nod, Nicky turned away and felt a shiver go down his spine as Hebinome's eyes stayed focused on him. They were scary, like a snake's. They were sharp, almost piercing, and felt as they could see everything, it freaked him out. Guess someone got his name right form the get go.

That was the another thing about the Japanese language that really bugged Nicky, and than there was the grammar, it was that their names were actual words. Hebinome meant Snake eyes, Tomisaburo meant Storm shadow, that one was also pretty accurate, and Hadoasuta meant Hard Master. It was almost funny how strait on those name were, Kimi didn't really mean anything, well at lest from what Nicky could remember at the moment. With out really thinking about it Nicky decided it would just be easier to think of the three men by what their names meant, it just seemed right. And would help with the writing of their names.

The van went in to a quiet pause after Storm shadow and Hard Master stopped arguing. After a few minutes of what looked and felt like New york lunch traffic, the van made it's way up a hill to what was one of the biggest houses Nicky had ever seen in his life. The place was huge, traditional styled Japanese mansion, with the gate and every thing. And he wasn't even going to think about the lawn, let alone the back yard.

"I hope you enjoy your stay with us Nicky-san." Hard master gave him a friendly smile

Nicky nodded, he didn't really think that could argue with the old man at this point in time.

* * *

I guess I should explain why I named Hard master Hadoasuta, because his real name was never given I just used hard master and translated it. And I think Tomisaburo means Storm shadow, but for convenience I will just go with that.

The Arashikage clan will not be evil ninja assassins, in this story they are just a powerful business family.

Sorry for such a short first chapter, but I didn't want to over whelm every one with a long chapter of my writing just yet, the next ones should be much longer, but it is late and I needs sleeps, so very bad.

Please let me know what you think~


	2. Chapter 2

Because of hand cramping reasons, I will just call Snake eyes, Storm shadow, and Hard master by their nicknames. Their names are really hard to memorize... This chapter is longer then the first, thank you all for reading! If you see anything wrong; grammar, spelling, culture, or other wise, let me know.

* * *

As Nicky was quickly ushered out of the van the family decided that they were going to show him the whole house, every single inch. Every time he tried to get them to stop they would always think of a room to show him before they were going to feed him, he didn't think he needed to know where was the best place to view the stares. After the first 10 minutes Nicky just gave up and shuffled after the group, when ever he finally got food he was going to put away more then Roadblock ever could.

It took about an hour before his host family let Nicky get something to eat, he really didn't care if he disgusted them with how much he ate, he was hungry. After scarfing down almost two meals worth, did the family show Nicky his room.

It was bigger then his family's rundown apartment, the room was a light cream decorated with dark brown, almost black Japanese wood. He even had enough closet space to make Scarlett jealous, the doors, like the one in rest of the house, was a traditional paper sliding door. The lack of privacy didn't really bother him, he was used to sharing a room with his older brother. The bed was huge, made out of the same wood all the other pieces of furniture was made of. The carpet was tall and very plush, he could probably sleep on the floor and think it was a bed.

"I hope it is to your liking," Hard master cut through Nicky's mussing. The elder man stood at the door with Kimi, Snake eyes and Storm shadow had shortly left after watching Nicky eat.

Looking over his shoulder, Nicky could see the hopfull look on Kimi's face and the hesitance on Hard master's face. Did they really think he wouldn't like the room, he could do somersaults like 10 time and never hit a wall. Turning around with a big smile Nicky couldn't help the snappy remark that left his lips, "It's bigger then my family's apartment, but I guess it will have to do. Now all I need is a kitchen and I'm set."

Kimi let out a small laugh, Hard master couldn't help the small smile that graced his face. After a few minutes of telling Nicky if he needed anything that they would be down the hall, they left Nicky alone for the night. After exploring the room some more, he had found his bathroom was bigger then his kitchen back home. That and he could fit himself in to the cupboards of his dresser, it wasn't a very tight squeeze.

After he was done exploring every inch of his new room he decided he should send a quick message to his friends. Breaker had set up a message board for the group, so they could all stay connected while Nicky was in Japan. Booting up his old duck-taped laptop on the large desk, Nicky quickly left a message to let them know he had made it to Japan in one piece. He even added a quick description of his room, just to rub it in everyone's faces.

Breaker had set it up where one had to use a login and password to access the board, to keep out unwanted company. Every one had left Nicky a message wishing him luck, even though they had done so with his family at the air port. His family had also left a voice mail on his phone and a long email, both were mostly form his older brother Teddy. Nicky let out a small chuckle, always protecting the little fish. Sending back an email to his brother, knowing that he was probably sitting by the computer and the phone at that very second, Nicky didn't feel like talking.

After everything was looked over Nicky leaned back in the supper comfy chair, thinking that it was probably time to go to sleep. It was 10:30 pm in Japan and he hadn't slept in a long time, shutting down his laptop, Nicky didn't even change before moving over the black and cream colored sheets. The bed didn't smell like home yet, so he rolled around the giant bed a few times before it seemed right. Said bed could fit 12 of him, and it was like laying on a cloud. It didn't take long for him to get to sleep, it had been a very long day.

* * *

Nicky was a woken by a strong shaking, groaning he rolled away form the being that was shaking him. After a few seconds it appeared that the person had given up and left him to sleep, only the heaven that was sleep was ripped from him as he was shaken for the second time. Swatting at the arm, Nicky tried to move away again, but the person seemed persistent. Letting out a grunt he quickly mumbled, "Bro, let me sleep..."

The shaking had stopped, this time it seemed for good. That was till Nicky felt a genital petting on his head. His brother didn't do that when he was trying to wake him up, Nicky groggily thought. Snapping his eyes open he threw himself away form the person petting him, "W-What are you doing in my room!"

He could hear the paranoia in his own voice as it echoed around the room. Letting out short huffs of breath, looking around he spotted Snake eyes on the other side of the bed. He looked at Nicky with an unreadable look on his face, his posture was ridged. Snake eyes dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a gray long sleeve shirt. What the hell? Did the guy seriously pet him?

"What the hell man! Couldn't you have like knocked on door frame or some thing?"

Snake eyes only tilted his head to show he didn't understand, other than that he just stared with the same piercing eyes as before. Nicky scrubbed his hand over his face, of course Snake eyes wouldn't have understood him, he had just spoken in rapid English, with a Brooklyn accent. Snake eyes was probably only in his second or first year of English.

Deciding he should do more then just sit on a bed, Nicky began to try to untangle himself form the cocoon of blankets. When he slept Nicky had a habit of wrapping the blankets around him, and right now they were being stubborn. Letting out a grunt of annoyance when he couldn't escape form the mass wrapped around his lower half. As he worked to try to loosen the mass he didn't notice Snake eyes move to his side of the bed.

Nicky let out a girly squeak, he would later deny, as Snake eyes easily lifted him up with one arm. Snake eyes held him with his left arm while using the other to remove the blankets form Nicky's lower half. Nicky stopped trying to clock him after realizing he was just trying to help, but that sure as heck didn't mean he liked it. Grumbling to himself, Nicky wish he was taller, or at lest stronger.

When Snake eyes had removed the mass, did Nicky shoot him a unhappy, thank you. When he was put down Nicky quickly hit Snake eyes in the arm, with a small pause he added in Japanese, "That's what you get for scaring me, you creepy ninja."

Snake eyes, if he did take any offense, didn't show it, he didn't even show if the punch hurt. With a quick gesture of eating and a point at the clock did he silently leave. Nicky just glared at him as he left. Creepy ninja, he thought with a good amount of spite, scares the living crap out of me and tell me it's time to eat. The guy must do some kind of sports with how strong he was, then again just about anyone can bench press me, he add with some venom.

After a quick debate, Nicky decided he wasn't going to take a shower and just changed. Pulling out his trusty overalls, tan shirt, and some clean underwear from his suit case, he quickly changed. After touching the cold floor in the hallway, he quickly chose to put on a pair of shocks. With every thing in order Nicky made his way to the dining room. When he got there everyone else was about to finished eating, scratching the back of his head he to a seat at what he assumed to be his spot.

Everyone had looked up to see him enter, Storm shadow just scowled at his lateness, "About time you got up, your food is cold hurry up and eat."

Nicky just shot him a look, it was still to early to fight with the rude older boy. Grumbling some inappropriate things under his breath, he quickly picked up his chopsticks and began to eat his simple breakfast. At lest the food's good, he though. Glancing around he saw everyone was done eating waiting for him to finish, that's a bit weird. Trying to keep his eyes on his plate Nicky just continued to eat, what ever they were planing it could wait till he was done eating.

"I hear you had an interesting morning with Snake eyes." Nicky nearly chocked on the food he was swallowing. Trying not to cough the food all over the table Nicky looked over at the elder man with teary eyes. Hard master just let out a small laugh at Nicky's expense, After waiting for Nicky to swallow his food Hard master continued, "I had him go get you when you didn't show up for breakfast."

"Yes it was... an interesting wake up." Nicky didn't bother to hide the venom form his voice, it was one of the worst ways he had ever woken up. The first had been waking up in jail after Snowjob had convinced him to spend the night in a ski store, his parents still hadn't forgiven him. Bright side was his Japanese was improving.

"You can pick up an alarm clock when you are in town." Hard master simply added before getting up to leave, "Storm shadow, Snake eyes, and Kimi will show you around town, I left you an allowance on your dresser. I'll be back later tonight for dinner, good day children."

With that Hard master left the table, Nicky was a little taken back a how fast the man moved. He looked to be around his late 50s, but move like he was in his 20s. As the elder left Nicky took note of his business suit, the man probably had work to attend to.

After finishing breakfast Nicky was bullied into getting his shoes and allowance, then he was herded into a very expensive looking sports car. Sitting next to Snake eyes it was a very awkward ten minutes to the city, Nicky was still mad about what happened earlier that morning. Trying to keep his eyes forward, he didn't feel like getting into a fight with someone he couldn't even understand.

At lest Kimi was having a good time, she was sitting upfront next to her brother talking very animatedly. She was talking a little too fast for Nicky to understand her, she did make enough hand gestures to take out some one standing next to her, he mussed. And Storm shadow didn't look annoyed, he just focused on the road. He didn't have a scowl on his face, in fact he looked calm and almost happy. Nicky just figured he was picturing strangling someone, mostly like Nicky himself.

When the group did arrive, they parked and proceed to drag Nicky to the shopping district. Well Kimi did the dragging while Snake eyes and Storm shadow reluctantly fallowed. The shopping district was huge, bigger than any mall Nicky had ever been to. There were stores for everything, the first one they visited was an electronic store, to get Nicky his alarm clock.

After picking out a regular black electronic alarm clock he pulled out his allowance to see if he had enough. Nearly dropping the large bills in surprise, Hard master had left him almost 8,500 yen. That was over $100, maybe he had left a good impression. After paying for his alarm clock Nicky decided it was best to keep most of the money, he never knew when he might need it. That was the plan till he realized he was going to spend most of his money on school uniforms any way.

After the alarm was bought Storm shadow then dragged the small group to a martial arts store of a sorts, apparently he and Snake eyes, were really big into martial arts. They were the captains of every single martial arts team at school, well that's what Kimi told Nicky. They needed to pick up some wraps and some extra pads for the Kendo team. Storm shadow waved Nicky and Kimi off so he and Snake eyes could look around a little more.

Kimi had simply stuck her tongue out at him before pulling Nicky out to another store. Nicky couldn't help but blanch when he saw what store she was pulling him to, it was a girly looking clothing store. He had a slight fear of them since Scarlett and Duke's cousin Lady Jay had dragged him to one, he couldn't go clothes shopping for a month after wards. After a short period of 20 minutes Kimi had picked out all the clothes she wanted to try on, and it was Nicky's job to help her decide which outfit to buy out of the 150 plus pieces of clothing. Letting out a groan Nicky slumped in the seat provided for tortured souls like him.

After the first 30 minutes Nicky needed to move, so while Kimi was changing he quickly got something to drink. It only took him a few minutes to get a good old fashioned Coka-Cola, he figured she wouldn't be too mad at him for going to get something to drink. When he got back to the store he was a bit surprised to see some sort of commotion going down by the dressing looked like three guys and two girls were harassing some one, who had the same dressing room as Kimi.

It was no secret that Nicky hatted bullies, he had been bullied through most of his life, if not all of it. Storming up to the group as intimidating as Nicky could be at his height, he took in the group. The three guys were a little taller then Breaker, but had the body build of Duke and Ripcord. The two girls were around the same height and body type as Kimi, so that meant that everyone was around his height or taller then him, not very good odds. With a deep glare on his face Nicky called out, "Oi!"

The group, who had been crowding around Kimi, turned to look over at him. From their faces they obviously didn't take Nicky seriously, the largest of the group sneered at him. He had a deep voice and rotten breath, "What do you want shorty?"

The group laughed at the over used question, it wasn't the first time some one had asked him that. Letting one of his eye browse lift up in annoyance, Nicky changed his stance so he was resting on the balls of his feet. His brother and Duke had taught him how to fight using his small size as a great advantage, he could dodge under anything or any one. He had knocked out guys twice these goons size, these punks had no idea what they were in for. Letting some of his superiority in to his voice, "I just came to came to get Kimi-san, when a saw a bunch of leaches start to bug her."

If there was a time that he wished he could remember any Japanese swear words, it would be right now, he didn't even sound half as intimidating as he should have. Probably didn't help him that he was struggling with his Japanese at that moment in time. Still it did the job, the three guys were pissed about his interference. Maybe one of them was Kimi's ex-boyfriend, Scarlett has had her share of crazed boyfriends, he thought.

With that slight pause the biggest, likely the one in charge, gave the harsh order, "hold him down."

Nicky felt his heart beat speed up, no way in hell he was going to let them hold him down. That had happened too much when he was younger, Snowjob and his brother were the only ones who really knew of his phobia. They had never said anything to make fun of him, Snowjob had tried to help him get over the fear. He would still wake up in the middle of the night, hot and sweaty from the good awful nightmares that would haunt him. Waiting till they were close enough to grab him, Nicky quickly dashed under their arms. Turning to kick the shortest in the back of the knee and the other with a punch to the rib.

The shortest went down fast and with a small grunt of pain, the other held his side before twisting to deliver a punch to Nicky's face. With small dodge down Nicky balled his fist, and shot his arm upwards more then strong enough to leave a nasty bruise one the side of the guys face. The guy slowly tipped backwards till he gained enough momentum to knock him self out on a clothing rack, one down. Nicky turned to tackle the shortest one, only to be propelled backwards with a punch in the jaw.

Falling on his butt Nicky grabbed his face, it was slightly wet. He felt the pain spark threw his face, starting form his bottom lip. Pulling his hand away as he saw the blood form his split and broken lip on his hand. Glaring up at the taller man in front of him, Nicky quickly wiped off the blood. It wasn't the first time he had been hit in the face, or pushed over. With a small grunt Nicky got to his feet, with a glance he saw that the two girls were hiding behind a rack of clothing and Kimi was standing there with her hands over he mouth. She looked horrified.

Looking over to the two thugs, who were trying to pick their friend up off the floor, it took all of his strength not to kick the two in the face. The biggest realizing Nicky was up, gave him a powerful glare and a we will finish this latter. Nicky just spit some of his blood in their direction, punks.

As soon as the group of bullies dragged their fallen friend out of the store Kimi came racing over to him, speaking in rapid Japanese. She kept touching his face and tears were leaking form her eyes, even though Nicky kept saying he was fine. It was at that unfortunate moment when Snake eyes and Storm shadow showed up. When the two saw the store in ruins they quickly raced over to the two.

Storm shadow began to question the two, "What happened, are you both alright? Who did this? Do we need to go to the hospital?"

If Nicky was any less of the person he was he would have shrunk away form Storm shadow's harsh voice, the boy was practically vibrating with rage. His face was scrunched up and he looked ready to murder anyone who came near them at that point in time. He moved like a wolf who's pack had just been ripped from him, or in other words a momma bear.

"It was those kids form school again." Kimi tearfully stated, she felt guilty. They were her bullies and they just beat up on her new host brother. Barying her face in her hand she continued to try to explain through hiccups and tears. She always felt so useless, she was a burden to her family. She was always so clumsily and she always messed things up, she thought threw bitter tears, why couldn't she be more like her brothers?

Nicky let out a yelp when he felt a hand touch his face, he had been so focused on Kimi, he didn't notice Snake eyes standing behind him. Making eye contact with Storm shadow Snake eyes made a few hand gestures. Storm shadow nodded with understanding, quickly pulling Kimi along, he gave the store their censer apologies to the store and left. Snake eyes pushed Nicky to what looked to be an ice cream stand. With a flash of understanding, they were going to ice his wound, and maybe give Kimi some comfort food.

Pulling away form Snake eyes Nicky ran forward to order a cup of ice, the vender gave him a strange look, but Nicky just gave back a small scowl. After receiving his cup of ice Nicky dived his face into the ice. Sweet relief, he thought. When his face had stop hurting he looked over at Kimi, who was staring at him. Shooting her a cocky smile, he couldn't help but add, "Let's not go clothe shopping next time."

She gave him a big smile knowing he wasn't upset with her for what happened. She took a seat next to Storm shadow, who was trying to mother her, it was quite a sight. Nicky stiffened when he felt Snake eyes standing next to him, didn't the ninja have other things to do? Like going to check on his sister? Grumbling he shot Snake eyes a glare, he was still uptight about the fight and the ninja invading his space didn't help. Trying to ignore the older boy Nicky thought about what he was going to get form the ice cream stand. Chocolate ice cream was his favorite, and he did deserve a treat after being punched in the face.

* * *

Thank you all again for reading, sorry about the almost rushed ending. I'm sure you guys can tell this story will focus mostly on Tunnel rat. I felt like Storm shadow would be more of her brother then a cousin, so he and Kimi are siblings, Snake eyes will get his explanation latter.

I kept Tunnel rat's style of fighting because he is short and he doesn't have a weapon, unless you count his mouth. Also it will take a bit for Tunnel rat and Snake eyes to even understand each other so please be patient for the romance.

Will put out more soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Dear guest, I love you, for you I'm putting out a chapter early. I was only going to update on weekends, but for you I give you a longer and early chapter 3.

Look, I now have the dividers!

I really do thank all of you for reading, you guys make me smile, so from the bottom of my heart thank you!

* * *

Shuffling over Nicky tried, yet again, to put more space between him and Snake eyes. After the fight Storm shadow had taken Kimi to a different store to do her shopping, claiming that he couldn't leave her with anyone. The two had left after Storm shadow had given Snake eyes some sort of gesture and Nicky an intense look. So here Nicky was eating lunch on a bench, with Snake eyes less than an inch away, like some sort of guard dog.

Nicky didn't understand why, he in all technicality, had won the fight. He didn't need dark, tall, and creepy watching his back like an over protective dad with a teenage daughter. Grumbling once more into his sandwich, he had reached the end of the bench. Had he been in any other situation he would have shouted till his stalker left, but that didn't work a hour ago, he didn't think it would work now.

He had tried not to look at Snake eyes face the whole time, he had done it when he had first been ditched with him, that was a big mistake. Snake eyes was intimidating during any time of the day, but right now he was just down right terrifying. His face that was usually blank, but sharp, was twisted with malice and anger. His eyes that usually saw everything were sharpened like daggers and hooks that would rip out your soul. His body language that was usually relaxed, but alert, was hard and ridged. And the older boy had proved that running and hiding wouldn't save Nicky from his protective gaze, and people wondered why he was paranoid. Nicky had tried hiding in stores, trees and even in a drainage pipe, but Snake eyes always found him. Creepy ass ninja, Nicky thought while taking a vicious bite out of his sandwich.

He flinched back, he had bit too hard and his lip had reopened, he felt Snake eyes stiffen and move in closer. Quickly sucking on the bruised and swollen lip, grimacing as the taste of copper flooded his mouth, he gave the boy a glance. Snake eyes had calmed down a bit, but still had the hard edge in his posture and eyes. Nicky scowled at his host brother, "Geez, it's not that bad, just a swollen lip, I'll pick up some witch hazel in a bit. If you keep this up I might die from suffocation!"

Snake eyes didn't move away, he just sat there with his almost mask like passive face. Glaring at the man again Nicky grumbled about how protective the guy seemed to be. He's worse then Duke, Nicky thought bitterly. Duke was in more then one way the leader of the group, he started as the captain of the foot ball team, then it just escalated. Duke was like the silent protector of the group of friends. If he even heard of a rumor of some one picking on his friends, Duke was on to that person, fast. He had almost been suspended because he had sent six kids to the hospital, he had broken a bone in each of the kids. The kids had been bothering Nicky for about a week, Nicky insisted he could handle it, he hadn't known Duke for that long. But that all changed when the group of kids had strung Nicky up from a bridge and left him there to get hypothermia, with a concussion.

Duke had gone all out on the group, Road block, who had just moved form Mississippi, had joined into the fray. Both soon became Nicky's best friends, other then Snowjob, who Nicky met during a trip to Canada. From there the group had increased in numbers and Nicky gained more friends who were willing to watch his back, and he theirs. Nicky didn't just threaten to blow up more then one persons house, he had destroyed a few peoples cars. And he would do it again, all for his friends.

And right now he wished that they had all been there, he didn't know when he had started to depend on them, but it had been proven in that fight. He had waited for Ripcord to make some wise crack about the group of bullies and how he was going to show them. He was expecting Scarlett to show up and clock the whole group in the face. He had been waiting for Roadblock to set his massive hand on his shoulder and to send comfort that Nicky didn't need. He had expected Snowjob to magically appear and give them a "friendly Canadian chat". He had waited for Duke to show up and plow threw the store in a protective fit. He had expected his brother to come running up, talking with his tough Brooklyn accent and showing the bullies a thing or two. He had been waiting for a girly British shriek and Breakers wimpy arms to try to pull him to safety. But nobody came, he was by his self, again.

Nicky knew he had won, but only because the group had left. If the three guys, one was knocked out, hadn't have left Nicky didn't know if he could have beaten the other two. The shortest could defiantly take a punch and the biggest was stronger then he let on. Nicky let out a mental sigh, the biggest could have punched him in the back of the head and gave him a nasty concussion. And Nicky didn't want to think about what would happen if the girls did get involved. Sure he had gotten into fights with girls, he had gotten into many scrapes with Baroness. But that didn't make him comfortable with hurting girls, it wasn't that he didn't think they could fight, Scarlett had proved the whole world wrong on that one many a times. It was that he didn't like the thought of hitting someone who he considered more fragile then him. Nicky wasn't delusional, he knew he was small and weak, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try.

Then Storm shadow and Snake eyes showed up, like late pizza, unwanted. Kimi had been traumatized and Nicky wasn't trusted to be alone without a babysitter. It took him a few minutes to figure out that the brothers had communicated with some sort of code and not sign language. They must have used it for their sport activities, it was easier when one of them couldn't talk any ways.

Shifting again, Nicky looked over at Snake eyes, his host family were the only people he knew in this whole country. His friends and family were back in America, he had only his host family. He was alone except for four other people, one of which he didn't really like, two were almost needy for his approval, and the last kinda creeped him out. Thinking about it, his friends weren't much better, and he had seen worse odds. So sitting next to him was one of the people he had no choice but to rely on, they could at lest work out some understanding, even if he still freaked him out.

"So creepy ninja anything you want to do while we're here?" Sure it wasn't the best way to start a "conversation", but Nicky didn't really care at this point in time. He needed to get some witch hazel to bring down the swelling, he really didn't want to explain to his host parent why he had a busted lip. Standing up Nicky turned to look at Snake eyes, waiting for some sort of answer.

Snake eyes made an obvious pause, trying to think of how to communicate what he wanted to say to Nicky. After finally making up his mind, Snake eyes stood up and brushed off his back side. He then proceeded to point at Nicky, then to his lip, and a opening of something. Nicky didn't understand at first so the pattern was repeated for a bit. After the third time, Snake eyes added in a gesture of applying something to his lips. Then Nicky figured it out, he wanted to pick up medicine for Nicky's swollen lip.

Nicky figured that Snake eyes would have taken him to some sort of pharmacy, to bad Nicky didn't believe int that crap. He knew that witch hazel was probably the best thing for his lip, it would also sooth the pain and disinfect the wound as well. So with a quick, take me to the herbal medicine shop, they headed off.

Snake eyes took the lead, but didn't let Nicky out of his peripheral vision. Nicky almost snorted at the older boy, he didn't figure he could disappear from Snake eyes. The guy was in all seance a ninja, Snake eyes didn't even make any noise, even when he walked in heavy dress shoes, like right now. He moved with fluency and always seemed to know where everyone was. And the guy had chased him through out the town, and not even Nicky could lose him. Still it didn't take them long, even with the constant change in pace. Snake eyes kept slowing down to make sure Nicky was still close by, which Nicky just groaned at him.

The store looked like your typical old Japanese traditional medicine store, with the creepy dead chickens hanging out side the door. The place was clean never the less, every thing was organized and easy to find. The whole place had been alphabetically organized, and had enough jars to create a castle out of. The store owner was an elder man, who Nicky at first thought was a woman. The elderly man had on traditional bright clothing and looked to be a mixture of Hmong and Japanese. He greeted Nicky and Snake eyes with a bow and a welcome to my store.

"Uh, Hello, I'm looking for Witch hazel." Nicky stated with obvious nervousness, this wasn't the first time coming into a store like this. It just felt different, like he really didn't belong, everything was so strange compared to what he was used too. And he really wished he knew all the herbs that he was looking at. He recognized all the roots and leafs, but he couldn't tell what some of the grounded up powder was. So right now he was a bit at a lose, he needed the liquid form of witch hazel, it wasn't hard to find in America, and he knew of a few places that had it. But he didn't know of any place that might have some Hamamelis virginiana, or witch hazel shrub in Japan.

The elderly man examined Nicky's lip with a knowing gaze, before nodding and pulling out a jar of lushes light green oval shaped leafs with prickly looking flowers. He ground up a few ounces worth and put it into a neat little bag. After tying it closed with a small blue ribbon the elderly man rung up the bag of herbs. With a kind smile he waved the two of after Snake eyes almost pushed Nicky out of the way to pay, "Good day young lads, and come back soon without a broken lip."

Nicky sent back a thank you and I will, before putting the small bag into his overall pocket. When the bag was safe in his pockets he gave Snake eyes a swift kick on the bottom of his shoes as they left. "I don't need you paying for me."

Snake eyes simply continued to walk next to Nicky without any sort of acknowledgment. Jerk, Nicky thought with a hurt pride, first the guy babysits him then pays for his stuff like he was some girl. Nicky could fill his checks puff out in rage, man Snake eyes was more annoying then Ripcord, and tried even less then him too. He hadn't even known Snake eyes for a whole 24 hours, but Snake eyes had made it his mission to look after him. Nicky just figured Snake eyes had some sort of complex like Duke did. Nicky simply shrugged it off, Snake eyes would be Snake eyes, as Roadblock would so poetically put it.

With that all settled the two began to just walk around the shopping district, not really going any where in particular and just looking at everything. Nicky would fill the silence with light but snappy comments about everything and anything. As they past a small store, Nicky was drawn to the window, it was a small little store full of traditional Japanese culture. It was about the size of Nicky's family bathroom, very small, but filled to the brim with object of all sorts. With a small glance over at Snake eyes Nicky said, "Lets go in here."

Snake eyes seeing that Nicky was practically melding with the glass window gave a simple nod before entering, Nicky fallowed closely behind. Nicky didn't understand why, but after being separated form his friends for so long, a little more then 24 hours, he started to really miss them. And every one really did want to come to Japan, so this looked like a perfect place to buy them something, just a little souvenir. Maybe he should get them some charms, god knows Ripcord needed all the help he can get. Nicky began to search the store for charms that meant certain things.

Good luck for Duke, something pretty for Scarlett, good fortune for Ripcord, wealth for Roadblock, protection for Breaker, and happiness for Snowjob. Looking over the small cluster of charms again, that seemed right. Now what should I get for my parents, Nicky mentally asked himself. Maybe some paper lanterns, and some cool bandana looking things for his brother. Nicky quickly smiled and ran the short few steps to the young woman running the cash register. After waiting for Snake eyes to buy some sort of carved wooden figure, the two left.

Keeping the bag close to his body with a tight grip Nicky, began to let his mind wonder to how school was going to be. He knew that he was going to go to the same school as Snake eyes and Storm shadow, but that was about it. Deciding to break the silence again with a question Nicky asked, "So where can I pick up a uniform for school?"

He knew he had the next two days off, but still he like being prepared for any situation. Snake eyes simply gave a small tug on Nicky's sleeve, Nicky figured out that it meant to fallow, before turning around. Nicky fallowed a small distance away, he didn't really want to lose the silent boy in the big crowd. Only Nicky could call out if the two got separated and Snake eyes couldn't call back to him. After the short walk they arrived at a school store, it was the biggest store in the area. The Store was around the size of a normal small store in America. The store was lined with school uniforms and required bags and note books for classes.

As soon as the two entered they were greeted by a man in his mid 30s, the man was well dressed in modern dark colored clothing. After a short explanation of why the two were here by Nicky the worker herded Nicky over to a small stool. Snake eyes took a seat not to far away and prominently turned into a statue. The worker made Nicky stick out his arms for measurements, and introduced himself as Kishino. "And what brings you to Japan?"

Nicky shifted his footing to get more comfortable, "I'm here for the foreign exchange program."

"Really now? I haven't seen many students form China, who are you staying with?" Kishino simply began to start up a conversation with his customer, as he started to measure Nicky's shoulders.

"I'm from America, staying with the Arashikage." Nicky simply answered, he was used to people asking him if he was from China, and some times Korea. He had even had a few people try to speak Chinese at him, to which he just answered back with a snappy and rude comment.

Kishino was taken back apparently, because he paused in his measurements, "My apologies, is this your first time in Japan?"

"Yeah, one of my friends has been here before, but this is my first time."

"Oh, I know you will have a lovely time here. If you don't mind me asking what happened to your lip?"

Nicky licked over his swollen bottom lip, he had pretty much forgot about it. He thought about it before replying as best as he could in Japanese, "I got into a fight with some others."

"I see that is quite unfortunate, how long are you staying?" Kishino moved down to measure Nicky's waist.

"For about a year, maybe only for the school year. It all depends on my family and my host family."

Moving to do Nicky's legs Kishino called up, "Well I hope you have a nice stay here, I'm almost done, is there anything else you need other than a few school uniforms?"

Looking over at Snake eyes Nicky shook his head, he didn't think that there was much else he needed, and if he didn't it wasn't like he couldn't come and get it here. "No I don't think so."

"Very well, if you would please write down your address I will have them delivered to you tomorrow morning." Kishino said while writing down the measurements. Snake eyes stood up and handed Kishino a business card, Kishino nodded before awkwardly taking the small rectangular piece of paper. Nicky quickly pulled out his wad of money to pay for the uniforms, he wasn't going to let Snake eyes pay for his stuff again, Nicky was a little too prideful for that.

Kishino moved to the cash register to ring up Nicky's perches, and waved the two off. "Feel free to come back again if any thing is wrong with your uniforms."

The two then continued their journey with out purpose, till Snake eyes pulled Nicky's sleeve. Nicky simply shrugged and mumbled something about ninjas, and fallowed Snake eyes as they walked in the direction that Nicky thought the car might be. Giving a look at his watch Nicky realized it was around 4 in the afternoon, they should be getting home. And Nicky needed to come up with an excuse for why he had a broken bleeding lip.

Nicky didn't know what Hard master knew about Kimi's bullies, maybe he already knew. Or maybe Kimi was like Nicky, ashamed or too proud to tell his parents that he was being bullied. She may tell her father what happened, or she could chose to keep it a secret. Right now it all riding on what Kimi was going to say.

* * *

Nicky sat stock still, he hadn't felt like he was in this much trouble scene Ripcord had convinced the group to sneak out to go to a party and all their parents came to get them. Hard master, who sat right beside Nicky, had been told about the whole fight. Kimi had told him everything, and the older man looked less than pleased. So here Nicky was sitting in the families dojo, apparently the whole family had a thing with martial arts, with a very unhappy host father on his left.

After what seemed like forever in Nicky's mind Hard master spoke, "Do you know what you have done?"

Nicky stiffened and clamped down on the need to run, the old mans voice was even scarier then Storm shadows earlier that day. "I beat up on some bullies who were harassing Kimi?"

Hard master let out a deep breath, the man was way past mad, before answering back, "No, you put your self in danger. You could have put both, you and Kimi, in great danger. The group could have had a weapon or you could be sent back to America, or worse sent to prison."

Nicky didn't school the flinch that he made, all he did was just stand up to some bullies and now he was the one in the wrong? It just didn't make sense, "So what? Was I supposed to have just left her to them? Let them rip her apart emotionally and maybe physically?"

Nicky didn't even bother to try to hide the anger in his voice. He wasn't the one at fault here, it had been the group of fools who had messed with some one who wasn't as strong as them. He was the one who was right, he was the one who had stood up for someone he hadn't even known for 24 hours. Yet, he was the one who had done the world some sort of injustice?

Hard master didn't respond at first, obviously trying to keep his blood pressure low. Again the older man let out a deep breath before speaking, "No, you should have just taken her and left, not try to fight them. I don't know what your parents let you do in America, but while you are here you will respect and obey my rules."

Nicky unhappily nodded, there was no way he was going to win against the older man. Giving out a sigh Nicky figured he should at lest ask what these rules were, "Ok, so what are the rules here?"

"No fighting unless absolutely necessary," Hard master put up a hand to cut Nicky off, "That was not necessary. If you insist on getting into more fights then I will have no choice, but to send you home. Other then that you only have to keep your room clean, try your hardest in school, and be to meals on time."

The older man gave Nicky a kind smile, he realized that Nicky hadn't meant to cause trouble. Nicky had only wanted to keep his daughter safe, and for that Hard master was thankful for, "Now then if you insist on getting your self into more trouble we will have to train you."

"Uh, I'm not really good at commitments..."

Hard master let out a small laugh, the boy really was quite young, he was almost to young to be on his own in a foreign land. "Alright, but before you leave for your room, have some tea with me."

Nicky nodded, he couldn't get in that much trouble when it came to drinking tea, could he? Moving around on the pillow to get comfortable, Nicky didn't think too much could happen. After a short pause Nicky could help but wonder where was the tea, no one had brought any and there was nothing in front of them.

Hearing the sliding of the dojo doors opening Nicky turned his whole body to see who had brought them tea. He was a bit surprised to see Storm shadow enter with Snake eyes right behind him, the two were wearing work out pants and Snake eyes was wearing a regular long sleeve shirt. Moving so he was facing forward again Nicky looked at Hard master, "So where is the tea?"

"We will drink after Storm shadow and Snake eye are done with their evening spar." Hard master simply stated. Nicky just sent back an ok, before the two turned to face the soon to be sparing duo.

The two stood at three paces away form each other. Storm shadow's stance was much more aggressive, as if he wanted to fight to the death. While Snake eyes, was like a snakes more deffensifve, coiled in on it's self ready to strike. Their eyes focused on the other, trying to see where to strike and when, it made Nicky shiver with their intensity.

Finally Storm shadow moved forward in a flash, with his right palm open aiming for right side of Snake eyes' face. Snake eyes coiled back moving his weight to his left foot and swiped Storm shadows arm across his body. He then countered with a right kick to Storm shadow's ribcage. Storm shadow ducked under the kick and delivered a few jabs to Snake eye's chest, only the first hit. Snake eyes, open palmed the rest, and shot back a swift punch to Storm shadows neck.

The two continued on with jabs, kick, open palms, and punches, for a long while. Nicky sat there rooted on the stop, the two were ruthless in their attacks. Every time a blow hit Nicky could feel his muscles in that area clench up, it was brutal. It was right then and there that Nicky really understood why Hard master was so worried about him. Nicky wasn't even close to being able to defend himself like these two were. He had relied on getting away and his pain tolerance till his friends started watching his back. If any one of those bullies had as much skill and talent as these two, then Nicky could have gone to the hospital or worse wound up dead.

It looked like the two could go on for hours, but really Snake eyes could feel his breath quickening and his stance lowering. Storm shadow wasn't doing much better, the only thing keeping him at the pace that they were going at was the simple rage he felt. Using his rage as a source of strength, Storm shadow tried to delivere a fast chop to the side of Snake eye's head, who changed his footing to block. Seeing the chance Storm shadow swept his foot in a powerful mill, effectively knocking Snake eyes of his feet. Using the air born body as a target Storm shadow gave a bone breaking blow to Snake eyes' chest. If the younger of the duo could speak, he would have let out a pained sound from the blow. Hitting the ground hard Snake eyes quickly swung up his arms to catch Storm shadow's next attack.

"Enough."

Harm master's voice cut threw the match that had a violent end. Storm shadow after coming back to his sense, let his brother up. When Snake eyes had proper footing the two bowed to their father and took their seats next to the two. With a clap of his hands Hard master summoned up one of the house's help, and with a quick command the tea had arrived. After bringing in a small table, the tea was set up and the four were given their tea cups.

While every one else drank their tea Nicky couldn't stop the sickness he felt after seeing the brothers "spare". Nicky kept playing the last few hits over and over in his mind, if Hard master hadn't have cut in then Storm shadow could have delivered a fatal blow to Snake eyes' heart. It had left him shivering, Nicky couldn't understand how Snake eyes could sit down next to his brother who could have killed him.

Snake eyes and Storm shadow didn't even try to make eye contact, let alone their way of communicating. In stead Hard master had set them across from each other, using Nicky and himself as dividers. Sensing the harsh atmosphere, Hard master asked Nicky a question, "You mentioned that your friends called you "Tunnel rat", why is that?"

Nicky, who hadn't taken a sip from his cup, quickly looked up in surprise. He had forgot he mentioned that, setting down his tea cup Nicky began to rub his face into his brother's old bandana. He had taken up a ritual of putting it on when he was stressed, he felt safe when ever he had it on. Like his brother was right with him, and would show up to protect him. So he had tied it around his neck after getting to the Arashikage residence. With a small pause he gave his answer, "One of my friends has a habit of nick naming people. He took one whiff of me after I had gone sewer spelunking, and asked "Where have you been crawling Tunnel rat?" and it just stuck. He names every one."

"Sewer spelunking?"

"Oh yeah, that's right, I guess no one told you guys." Nicky began to think of how he could explain what his habits, or hobbies, were in Japanese, "I like it under ground, I like using what the earth gives you know? So I learned about all sorts of medical plants and I like running around the New York sewer system."

"Why? It sounds disgusting down there, running around in so much filth." Storm shadow scoffed at Nicky. He couldn't see the point of running threw such garbage, he didn't see the point of becoming so filthy.

Nicky sent Storm shadow a glare, "I don't know, maybe you shouldn't wear so much white? You seem to ruin the color."

Nicky would have felt a small twang of remorse for the snappy comment, but he was still disturbed after watching the spar. Storm shadow had gone at Snake eyes with the intent to kill, "There's no on to bother me down there, just me and my thoughts. And besides if the bullies can't find you, then they cant hurt you."

After letting the last sentence slip Nicky could feel Hard master and Snake eyes stiffen, and Storm shadows rage build. Nearly kicking himself Nicky quickly guzled down his tea and was about to say good night when Hard master's voice cut through his panic, "So you have been... Mercilessly bullied?"

Nicky felt his checks heat up and his pride sting, yes he had been bullied, but Hard master made it sound like Nicky couldn't do anything about it. Nicky felt as helpless as when if first started in pre-school, and he hated feeling helpless. As far as Nicky was concerned he could handle himself, ninja martial artist excluded. With a small glance around Nicky retorted hotly, "Yah, so?"

"I see," Hard master's voice no longer held the worried edge it had before, he sounded much calmer now. With a small smile on his face Hard master asked with warmth filling is voice, "Is that why you fought with the ones bothering my little Hime?"

Nicky no longer felt helpless, now he felt guilty. His host family must think that he had stepped in because of a personal vendetta. In a way he had, but he also didn't want Kimi to be tormented like he was, Nicky had nightmares because of some of his bullies. Giving a small nod, Nicky didn't want Kimi to ever go through what he had, "I just didn't want them to think that they could do stuff like that to her. I would never wish something like that on Kimi-san, she doesn't deserve that."

"And what doesn't she deserve?"

Nicky started to squirm in his seat, why did they feel the need to involve themselves into his personal problems? Was it because he was smaller then them, were they planing on using it against him? Nicky felt the paranoid fear creep into his mind, they might have been planing this from the very beginning. Using his hand that wasn't occupied with shakily holding on to a tea cup, Nicky buried his face into the bandana. He could feel the three sets of eye staring him down, trying to make him crack.

Shakily Nicky took a deep inhale of the similar scent of his brother and him. Letting the familiarity calm him, he glanced around again. Everyone, even Snake eyes had a concerned look on their faces. They didn't want to harm him, they were worried about him, they cared. He didn't know why but this made a lump form in his throat. Sure he had people that cared, but he always felt alone. They, his host family, didn't want him to be alone. Swallowing Nicky finally answered the question, "I was picked on, a lot, it escalated form teasing to some time me having to go to the hospital. Some people just don't know when to stop, and I don't want to have that happen to anyone else."

Snake eyes and Storm shadow smoothly shifted over so they were closer to their host brother. After the smaller boy stood up for their sister, that was what Storm shadow saw him as. Not many had risked their well being for some one they hardly knew, and from what Kimi had told him, the small boy didn't even hesitate to save her. She had told him about how scared she was and then Nicky had came, like a fair tail, and saved the day. He had been furious with the boy at first, he had left her all by herself, and the fools saw an opportunity, but after Kimi explained what had happened, Storm shadow didn't feel hatred for the smaller boy, instead he felt the need to protect him. The boy had foolishly thrown himself into a fight for their sister, he couldn't ask for more in a younger bother.

"I see, just know while you are here Nicky Lee, you are part of our family. And if someone were to hurt you, know that they will feel every bit of our wrath." Hard master spoke mostly to his sons, they had been rather upset as of late. He knew how competitive they were over his approval, and knew that they might turn on their younger guest. But from how the two had placed themselves next to the smaller boy, he knew that he didn't need to say anything, but a little verbal grounding never hurt. And seeing Nicky shift in embarrassment only made him smile more, it was obvious that the smaller boy had been mistreated throughout his life. Even from the information and picture that was sent to him when he was asked to shelter a foreign exchange student, it just made his parental instincts beg him to help the boy.

And the night before didn't help settle Hard master's instincts, Nicky had had a horrid nightmare. From what he could see the boy didn't even remember having one, like it was a normal occurrence. He only understood that Nicky's dream had something to do with being held down, which meant that the boy was worse off then he let on. It made his heart break for the small boy, he had talked with Nicky's parents and they had told him that they couldn't get Nicky to go get help, the boy felt like it was running way form the problem.

Nicky could feel the atmosphere shift to one of pity, he didn't need their pity. He didn't need someone to baby him, because they found out his childhood wasn't full of sunshine and lollipops. Even if it did feel nice that these people, who were complete strangers, wanted him to feel comfortable. With a small shift in his posture Nicky began to think of something to change the topic to. He could bring up school, but that could wait till tomorrow. With a big grin Nicky finally spoke, "So when can I learn to become a master ninja?"

* * *

Ok, dramatic twist I didn't intend for this chapter, enjoy?

I felt like the boys would still have their intense rivalry, with out killing each other. And I knew that Storm shadow wouldn't "like" Nicky without some sort of reason to, because you know he's the "almighty Storm shadow".

I'm basing Hard master more of the movies and originals, rather than Renegades. I think he would be a silent but loving father, who would feel the need to take care of everything. And I didn't want a yelling Hard master in my story, sorry~ Also sorry for the lack of Kimi, she becomes a big part of the story later.

Thank you all again for reading, ta ta for now!


End file.
